The back-to-school countdown clock is ticking! Parents, PTAs, school administrators, and teachers are gearing up for the school year ahead. Kids, on the other hand, are still living that summer life. Plan a back-to-school event to reintroduce and engage kids for the new school year.
If you haven’t started planning or are halfway there, these four back-to-school event ideas will help you kick off the coming year and get the school spirit flowing.
Back-to-school event ideas
A New Family Event
Help make new students feel welcome and introduce parents or guardians to one another with a friendly get-together. The kids will feel less trepidation walking into school for the first time, and so will their parents as they watch them go! This sort of party is excellent when run by the school PTA since it’s also a great opportunity to inspire the adults to volunteer.
Event idea: Ice cream social
Food is always a big draw, plus keeping things informal will set everyone at ease. Try an ice cream social at the school, a PTA member’s home, or an ice cream shop. If you work with a local business, you might even be able to organize a sponsorship agreement. In return for hosting your welcome event, they get free advertising at school events, newsletters, and other publications.
Bonus tip: Create name badges that invite interaction. Try asking everyone to write something about themselves on the name badge (like their favorite sport, TV show, or food).
Event idea: School scavenger hunt + pizza party
A new school building is nerve-wracking for high school and elementary school kids alike. Where’s the gym? My homeroom? The bathrooms? Playing fields? Cafeteria? The bus stop? A scavenger hunt is an excellent way to acclimate students, and a pizza party afterwards offers an opportunity to get to know classmates.
A Back-to-School Party
Everyone’s been enjoying summer. To help kids get back in the game and offer teachers and parents an informal way to mingle, soft launch the school year with a great time!
Event idea: Get there and play + school supply drive
Encourage interaction with bowling or mini golf! You can create rotating teams to mix everyone up and host an informal picnic afterward. If it’s appropriate for your school’s families, consider having your back-to-school golf party double as a school supply drive. When you send your golf party invites (or email invitations through our platform), provide a list of school supplies and ask everyone to bring something if they can, then donate them to a local nonprofit or church for distribution. Level up the fundraising aspect by setting up a donation page and encouraging students and teachers to share the link on social media so their friends and family can help others!
Event idea: Food truck picnic + scavenger hunt
Arrange for local food trucks to gather in the school parking lot. Work with the food trucks to come up with a menu item offered at a specific price or covered by the school’s event budget. For example, perhaps there’s a budget for food that the school covers, but the food trucks can also offer additional menu items for purchase. When people order their meals, they just specify the Tiger Special (or whatever your mascot is!) or order off the regular menu. Encourage new and returning students to interact with a scavenger hunt. This time, include questions that both groups can help each other answer.
Bonus tip: Add a school fundraising element with an easy raffle, such as a tricky tray. People can buy tickets and bid on things like totes or t-shirts with the school logo, free lunch from one of the food trucks, movie tickets, and any other goodies you can wrangle from local businesses.
Additional back-to-school event tips
- Make sure everyone has name badges with helpful information like what class they teach and whether they’re a student or parent!
- Everyone loves free food. Try to organize event sponsorship to defray some or all of the costs, or, when possible, use the school/PTA budget.
- Put someone on photo duty. Pictures make for great memories and school social media and yearbook content.
- Create a social media hashtag for all your events and include that information and your school’s social media handles on invitations. Then, encourage everyone to tag and share!
- Raffles and giveaways are always exciting, especially for something everyone wants! For example, a reserved parking spot for high school students or a batch of cupcakes from a local bakery for your elementary school student to share with classmates on their birthday would generate a lot of interest.
Back-to-school events made simple(r)
Planning school events isn’t always a piece of cake, but you can make managing it significantly easier! Eventgroove has event templates you can brand to your school, and we make it easy for guests to RSVP while providing real-time information on attendees. You can even create a free, ticketed event with e-tickets that can be scanned on-site with a mobile device.
To see how Eventgroove can streamline your school’s events, check us out or set up a quick in-person demo with our friendly team!
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